Deceptive intelligence: CNN breaks story on slave trade in Libya

French Government voices concern for African migrants

by Gerald A. Perreira

The world we find ourselves in is complex and full of contradictions. It is easy to fall for rudimentary textbook propaganda based on simplistic dichotomies, such as “the good guys versus the bad guys.” If we are not aware of the complexities and nuances facing us, we can fall for this type of propaganda, whose sole aim is to keep us apart and destroy any type of unity that could strengthen our ability to defeat the enemy.

This photo, taken March 3, 2011, between the Libyan towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf, just as NATO was preparing to invade, was the first of many photos the Bay View ran showing anti-Qaddafi forces targeting Black Libyans. – Photo: Goran Romasevic, Reuters

When examining and assessing the latest information fed us by one of imperialism’s mouthpieces, CNN, there are important things for us, as revolutionary Pan-Africanists, to keep in mind. The first thing to note is the clear hypocrisy and insincerity which is nowhere more stark than CNN’s recent expose of “Libyan crimes against humanity” and French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council to demand immediate action against this heinous “Libyan” crime.

I know this much for sure, as an African revolutionary, I do not look to the devil for the truth. I know that the devil does not lie some of the time; he lies and deceives all of the time. In whatever form the devil manifests himself, I do not deal with him.

He can come in the guise of the imperialists and white supremacists themselves or their mouthpieces such as CNN, BBC, Fox News or any of the mainstream corporate media outlets. We should never forget their role as cheerleaders and purveyors of the fake news that laid the groundwork for the invasion and destruction of the Libyan Jamahiriya.

Therefore, let us ask ourselves the burning question, why are they providing us with this information, and why now? Why are the imperialists suddenly feigning concern for the plight of Africans?

In my first article on the invasion of Libya, published March 2, 2011, titled, “Libya, getting it right: a revolutionary pan-African perspective,” I said that “the conflict in Libya is not a revolution, but a counter-revolution. The struggle is fundamentally a battle between Pan-African forces on the one hand, who are dedicated to the realization of Qaddafi’s vision of a united Africa, and reactionary, racist Libyan Arab forces who reject Qaddafi’s vision of Libya as part of a united Africa.”

Typically, as shown here in this March 2011 photo, the excuse for rounding up Black Libyans was that they’d come to Libya to fight as Qaddafi’s mercenaries, yet most had lived in Libya all their lives.

Events have proved this analysis correct. Muammar Qaddafi and the Revolutionary Committees Movement of the Al Fateh Revolution had a monumental task on their hands: to conscientize and reposition the Libyan people for a significant role in the revolutionary Pan-African project for a United States of Africa. This is a battle for all African revolutionaries.

In Sub-Saharan African countries, where almost the entire population comprises Black Africans, we face the same battle. Here in the Caribbean, it is no different. So, when Qaddafi urged his people to look towards a United States of Africa and a revolutionary Pan-African perspective, he had to face Libyans who rejected this program in favor of Libya and the entire North African region joining the Barcelona Project, a Mediterranean-European alliance, whose aim is to take North Africa out of Africa.

Prejudice against dark-skinned Africans exists all over planet Earth. Even in countries where the population is almost 100 percent Black African, we have to contend with “shadism,” a hangover from colonialism and plantation culture, where Africans with lighter skin shades are held in higher esteem than Africans with darker skin shades. However, to say that “Arab Libyans” are selling “Africans” is overly simplistic and deliberately misleading.

There is a hidden agenda here – beware. The objective is to ignite hostilities between so-called Arab-Africans and so-called Sub-Saharan-Africans. There is a debate amongst Africans about who is an African. On the one hand, there are those who limit the definition of African to Black Africans in the Sub-Saharan region of the continent.

On the other hand, there are those of us who believe that Africa is one, and we will resist any attempt by the imperialists to redefine and further balkanize Africa. Rather than becoming part of the European Community, North Africans promoting the Barcelona Project would be better off seeking out their African roots. This is what Muammar Qaddafi told all Libyans.

Black Libyans like this man, pictured in April 2011, were not only the victims of invading and rebelling troops, but they also fought in the Libyan army, loyal to Qaddafi. – Photo: AP

Those who today call themselves “Arabs” have a historical, ancestral and moral duty to recognize their Africanity. Those “Arabs” who live in countries on the African continent and those who live in the region outside of the continent, need to explore and reexamine their history.

The region they inhabit, erroneously named “Middle-East” and “Levant” by the European colonizers cannot be divorced from Africa. I agree with Islamic theologian and historian, Dr. Wesley Muhammad, that the area known as “Middle-East” or “Levant” is more aptly named “Afrabia.”

Anyone interested in more information on this and the Aryanization of Christianity and Islam should refer to the brilliant works of Dr. Wesley Muhammad, especially his book. “Black Arabia and the African Origins of Islam.”

The North Atlantic Tribes Organization (NATO) deeply fears this type of awakening and the unity of purpose and action it could lead to in this oil rich and wealthiest region of the world.

Minister Farrakhan said many years ago, reflecting on periods of unity in our history, “We did it before and we can do it again.” Muammar Qaddafi’s persistent struggle to forge a United States of Africa was starting to pay off.

This very public lynching of a Black man in Benghazi in June 2011 told the world that Blacks were no longer welcome in Libya and that Libya was politically divorcing itself from Africa.

He was on the verge of creating an African currency that would have shifted the global economic imbalance, preparing the way for Africa to take its rightful place in the world. Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Ivory Coast, was openly supporting Qaddafi with this radical move. Gbagbo believed that those who were serious should declare a United States of Africa and the others could follow.

Fear of this emerging African unity, especially between countries in the north and south of the continent, prompted France to orchestrate Gbagbo’s removal from power at the same time as the NATO led invasion of Libya. Genuine African unity, resulting in anything more than talk, will always be opposed, no matter what the cost, by the forces of White Supremacy.

As we now know, even those Libyans who opposed Qaddafi’s drive for a United States of Africa did not support the overthrow of the Jamahiriya. It is a well-substantiated fact that the rag-tag and opportunistic conglomerate of reactionaries, including monarchists, Arab supremacists and al-Qaeda linked Islamists, such as those from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, constituted an insignificant minority.

The Libyan Revolutionary Armed Forces could have easily contained these retrograde forces, if NATO had not bombed them into power. Without the backing of France, the U.S., Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and their satellites, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, the so-called Libyan rebels amounted to nothing when confronted with the overwhelming support of the majority of Libyans for Muammar Qaddafi and the Al Fateh Revolution.

This revolution brought dignity, stability, prosperity and liberation from foreign domination to all Libyans, from the fairest to the darkest in complexion. One thing you knew as soon as you stepped off the plane at Tripoli Airport was that the Libyans – all Libyans – were in control of their country!

Rebels in the Abu Salim district of Tripoli, on Aug. 25, 2011, captured this man after accusing him of supporting Qadaffi. – Photo: Sergey Ponomarev, AP

It was people power, seemingly chaotic and misunderstood by outsiders, but a truly participatory democracy to those who lived it and experienced it. The majority of Libyans were aware of this and supported Al Fateh.

Knowing who the so-called rebels truly are, it came as no surprise to me that in addition to the long list of crimes against humanity attributed to these scoundrels, they would auction Black Africans as slave labor.

In that article, I wrote about the “complete whiteout by the corporate media regarding all news from Libya.” I stated: “Even the United Nations, an architect of the nation’s destruction, says 7,000 prisoners are held without trial or charge, most of them Black, many of them tortured. Any known Qaddafi loyalists who have not been able to get out of Libya have to stay underground.

“Death squads scour the land. Truckloads of bodies are being carted away, as the now feuding armed gangs, each with their own command structure, and none adhering to anything the Western installed NTC says, introduces the only policy they ever had – exterminate Qaddafi and all those loyal to him.”

On Sept. 19, 2011, Tawergha, known as “the city of Blacks,” had been bombed into oblivion by NATO. Black families had lived there peacefully for generations. – Photo: Moises Saman, NY Times

These are NATO’s thugs.

I went on to note: “In addition to loyalty to the Leader, and defense of their country against foreign invaders, having black skin and asserting one’s Africanity has become a crime in the new Libya. Ethnic cleansing is continuing unabated.

“Every day Black Africans from Libya and other parts of Africa are hunted down. Thousands have been brutally tortured and executed. Rape of Black women is a favored weapon of NATO’s Islamists. Many of the female bodies found show signs of rape, beatings and torture. Large numbers of Black Africans make up the ranks of the Green Resistance.”

I quoted one Tripoli resident as saying: “Everyone is terrified of the NTC and their armed gangs. We have seen with our own eyes what they are capable of – they are animals. All around us people are being rounded up and imprisoned. We have no way of knowing how many have been murdered.

“Anyone who is associated with Qaddafi or suspected of loyalty to him is at risk. Even people who have worked for people who are known supporters of the leader have been rounded up and tortured. I personally know of many persons who were just working for people associated with the leader who have been taken away and never seen again.

“If you are Black, you are an immediate suspect – these rebels call Black Libyans ‘abd’ means slave and they are rounding them up just because they are black – it is making me sick and ashamed. …

A pro-Qaddafi Black man is manhandled by rebels in Sirte, Libya, on Oct. 12, 2011. Sirte is Qaddafi’s hometown and was home to a large Black population; both facts fueled the effort to totally destroy it. – Photo: Aris Messinis, AFP

“What these rebels have done to their own people is disgusting – some of the acts of torture I can’t even speak about. There has been a lot of rape. I wept when I learned of what these animals did to the leader’s female bodyguards – they are not human and that is why there is so much fear.

“Any known Qaddafi loyalists who have not been able to get out of Libya have to stay underground. Libyans are afraid to talk to other Libyans – anyone could be an informer. It feels like the last days are upon us – Libya has been turned into a living hell.”

The imperialist media, including CNN, were completely silent regarding all of these crimes against humanity, despite the fact that genocide in the form of an ethnic and ideological cleansing pogrom was unfolding right before our eyes. There was no outcry from the U.N. or the North Atlantic Tribes. No time or motive for outcry – having shared the spoils, these callous warlords had already moved on to their next victim, Syria.

So why now?

Could it be that the Green Resistance is gaining ground? Could it be that although they killed Qaddafi and buried him in an unmarked grave (they know why), his dangerous (for them) ideas are better known now than before? Could it be that Muammar Qaddafi’s vision for a United States of Africa could once again re-surface?

Prior to the overthrow of the Jamahiriya, thousands of Africans travelled to Libya to work, and they prospered. Employment opportunities existed across a range of occupations, including teachers, librarians, nurses, hotel workers, chefs, mechanics, electricians, construction workers and unskilled laborers.

During the NATO invasion of Libya, from March to October 2011, countless Black people were rounded up, tortured and killed outright or sent to die in camps. These photos are only a portion of the Bay View’s collection from that period. NATO forces and Libyan rebels seem to have taken pride in their ethnic cleansing campaign and allowed mainstream media photographers to record their unspeakable cruelty and mass murder, but those photos never went viral … until CNN recorded a slave auction six years later, and finally the world had to admit what it already knew.

They were able to send money home to their families. African businesses and companies also traded extensively in Libya. There was zero tolerance in the Jamahiriya for the mistreatment of Libyan or migrant workers or anyone for that matter. I know of many foreigners who received favorable judgments in employment disputes.

The destruction of this most prosperous and just African country was led by France, which now dares to call for a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the crimes committed against African migrants “by Libyans.” This is devil-speak.

The same devil who, in the words of the Honorable Minister Farrakhan, “unleashed the demons” that are now committing these and other heinous crimes, is trying to sow more discord by talking about “Libyan crimes.” Where was CNN and the French government when these same gangs of demons were committing the atrocities described above?

We have known since the first day of NATO’s invasion that this was perhaps one of the most racist and atrocious crimes of the 21st century. The question that we must ask ourselves is why CNN, the French government and others who led the charge in 2011 are all of a sudden concerned about the plight of Africans in Libya. Minister Farrakhan calls it “deceptive intelligence” and warns us that “every time the serpent raises its head it should be de-capitated.”

Let us resist this crude attempt to divide and ruin us yet again. Let us not be distracted and misled by imperialist propaganda. Let us make sure that our enemies do not set our agenda, causing us to react to their devious attempts to pit us against each other. Let us set our own agenda for our second liberation.

Black bodies rot in the hot Libyan sun. The mass murderers made no effort to conceal their devil’s work.

Crimes against Black Africans and Qaddafi loyalists of every complexion began in Libya in 2011, and continue to this day, unabated. Thousands languish in detention centers, Libyans of every complexion and migrants from all over Africa. Those carrying out these crimes on the ground are the foot soldiers and thugs of the criminal masterminds of the hell that is now Libya. Arrest warrants should be issued immediately for Nicolas Sarkozy, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, David Cameron, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Emir Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani to name but a few.

I end with a message to “All our Brothers and Sisters in Africa and the Diaspora” from long time Revolutionary Committee Movement member Dr. Salem Zubeidy:

“This letter is addressed to our brothers, officials and residents of the sub-Saharan African countries, who are characterized by dark features …

“There have been many reactions and statements by African leaders, politicians, organizations and institutions following an investigation published by CNN that there are markets for the selling of Africans of dark skin in Libya …

“No one stopped to question the validity of this report, and where is the market? When did this happen? Where do the (alleged) slaves go?

“Then, no one asked how the channel got to the supposed market, and how was it able to video the ‘auction’? What is the purpose of the American channel to broadcast such a program that distorts an entire people and accuses them of committing a heinous crime that is not accepted by a reasonable mind and not approved by any logic?

The year after the invasion, Black prisoners in a cage are shown being forced to eat green flags. Green was the color of the Libyan Jamahiriya, a government structure and history that deserves intensive study and emulation.

“We can find explanations and justifications for a U.S. channel harboring suspicious purposes in fueling separation and instigating seditions.

“As an answer to the voices and forces that see in this an opportunity to falsify the facts and play down the Libyan people’s accomplishments, side by side with their African brothers and sisters in the golden times of the al-Fateh Revolution, it behooves us to clarify some points:

“1. Libya, which you know has been hijacked since the fall of 2011, and its capabilities are being controlled by criminal gangs that had been enabled by means of the Western war machine of NATO, after destroying the foundations of the state.

“2. Libya was the bureau of the liberation movements, which trained, armed and equipped thousands of young people in the southern regions of Africa, Rhodesia, South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola and enabled them to return with their full military gear, with Libyan advisers, to fight the battles of liberation.

“3. Libya offered total support to the struggle of Cabral in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde and dispatched Libyan officers as volunteers to fight alongside him, some of whom are still living witnesses amongst us.

“4. Libya presented absolute support for revolutionary and progressive regimes in African countries seeking liberation from imperialism and neo-colonialism in the Congo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad and others.

“5. Libya alone has resisted the Barcelona process, which had as an objective the separation of the light-skinned in the north of the continent linking them with the Mediterranean in the so-called “Mediterranean Organization” and established the CEN-SAD in response to the Barcelona process to prove the unity of the continent.

“6. Libya fought the battle for the unification of the continent and the affirmation of its freedom, identity and dignity through pressing for the establishment of the African Union.

“7. Libya embraced African political opposition movements, supporting their programs and bringing many of their leaders to power.

“8. Libya represented the ongoing battle for peace, development and construction. It convened dozens of meetings, organized dozens of mediation affairs and reconciliations. It also invested huge sums in important projects in most countries of the continent …

“We can go on in more detail, but we just want to tell you and the world that your Libyan brothers and sisters cannot accept to disassociate themselves from their continent, no matter how the enemies of Africa try.”

Gerald A. Perreira is chairperson of the Guyanese organizations Black Consciousness Movement Guyana (BCMG) and Organization for the Victory of the People (OVP), International Secretary for ARM (African Revolutionary Movement) and executive member of the Caribbean Chapter of the Network for Defense of Humanity. He lived in Libya for many years, served in the Green March, an international battalion for the defense of the Al Fatah Revolution, and was an executive member of the World Mathaba based in Libya. He can be reached at mojadi94@gmail.com.